Labour leadership row: Corbynites plan rule change to cement left’s grip on the party

Proposal will reduce the number of nominations by MPs needed for a candidate to run in a future contest

Jeremy Corbyn looks increasingly likely to see off Owen Smith’s challenge and win re-election as Labour leader next month (Getty)

Allies of Jeremy Corbyn plan to seek changes to Labour’s rulebook to cement the left’s grip on the party and dilute the influence of its MPs.

Mr Corbyn looks increasingly likely to see off Owen Smith’s challenge and win re-election as Labour leader next month. This week, Mr Corbyn won the backing of the Unison union and his supporters are confident the Appeal Court will rule on Friday that 130,000 people who joined Labour between January and July will be allowed to vote in the leadership contest. A majority of them are expected to support Mr Corbyn.

Following a day of legal arguments, three Appeal Court judges will decide whether the High Court was right to rule that the recent recruits should be given a vote. Labour’s national executive committee is appealing against the decision.

After the leadership election, left-wingers will push for a rule change to reduce the number of nominations by MPs needed for a candidate to run in a future contest. In a sign that the left is preparing for “life after Corbyn”, the proposed rule would make it easier for his allies to secure the election of another left-winger if he decides to stand down before the general election due in 2020. Mr Corbyn, who is 67, insists he will lead the party into it but some Labour MPs believe he might stand aside if he were confident that the left could retain the leadership.

His possible successors include John McDonnell, the shadow Chancellor, who is 64 and says he will not seek the job, and Clive Lewis, the shadow Defence Secretary, who at 44 is seen as a more likely runner.

At present, a challenger like Mr Smith needs the backing of 20 per cent of MPs and MEPs (currently 51) to stand against an incumbent leader. If there is a vacancy, the threshold is 15 per cent (currently 38 MPs and MEPs), which a left-wing candidate might struggle to get. Under the proposed amendment, the hurdle would be reduced to just 5 per cent (currently 13 MPs and MEPs). “We need to secure our position for the future,” one pro-Corbyn MP told The Independent.

The move would need the approval of Labour’s annual conference, but Corbyn allies are confident because constituency parties and trade unions each have 50 per cent of the voting power. A vote could take place at next year’s conference.

The proposal would be bitterly opposed by senior Labour MPs. They plan a counter-move to give the Parliamentary Labour Party more influence by restoring the leadership election system scrapped by Ed Miliband in 2014. This would reduce the members’ clout by giving MPs, trade unions and members a third of the votes each.

In other moves to entrench their power, Corbyn supporters plan to purge senior staff at Labour headquarters including Iain McNichol, the general secretary, and some departmental directors. Corbyn allies claim they acted in a partisan way against him during this year’s leadership election, in effect backing the attempted coup by MPs rather than remaining neutral. Jennie Formby, former political director of the Unite union and a Corbyn loyalist, is seen as a potential party general secretary.


 Left-wingers may also try to oust deputy leader Tom Watson 
 (Getty)

Left-wingers may also try to oust Tom Watson, the deputy leader. As The Independent revealed this week, they claim his position would be “untenable” if the NEC loses its appeal, which he backed. But a spokesman for Mr Watson said: “It’s one of those things that’s never going to happen. How do they suppose they remove him?” As he was elected by members, the only way he could be forced out would be in another election – but a challenger would need nominations from at least 51 Labour MPs or MEPs. “Could they get 51 names? I don’t think so,” his spokesman said.

The left will try to sack MPs who have campaigned against Mr Corbyn by urging their constituency parties to deselect them before the next general election. Although some left-wingers want a rule change to make this easier, members can already force “trigger ballots” if they are not happy with an MP to force a contest to become the candidate. Parliamentary boundary changes to take effect at the next election will also allow the left to challenge MPs whose seats are merged.

Mr Corbyn’s surprise victory last year was seen as a temporary loss of power by centrists who have dominated Labour since the late 1980s. But left-wingers are determined to use their spell in power to make it much harder for their internal critics to regain control. “We will change the rulebook and change some of the MPs,” another left-wing MP said. “We have waited 30 years for this and we are not going to throw it away.”

However, MPs who oppose Mr Corbyn plan a “war of attrition” including another leadership challenge next year and, if necessary, in 2018. They remain determined to force him out before the 2020 election.

Critics may seek a return to the previous system under which the shadow Cabinet is elected annually by Labour MPs rather than appointed by the leader. With 80 per cent of MPs declaring they have no confidence in Mr Corbyn, this would impose a hostile shadow Cabinet on him.

Some Labour figures have discussed the idea of declaring that his MP critics are now the Official Opposition because they outnumber his MP supporters. But it is unclear whether the Commons Speaker John Bercow would endorse such a move.

Mr Corbyn won 58 per cent of the votes and Mr Smith 42 per cent in a ballot of 20,200 Unison members. But Dave Prentis, the union’s general secretary, warned that Labour is in danger of becoming the new “nasty party” because of “abuse, threats and aggressive language.” Pointing the finger at Corbyn supporters, he said: “There is no place in the party for witch hunts against MPs, councillors and party staff.